Saltbush Bill Poem Rhyme Scheme

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Now is the law of the Overland that all in the West obey	A
A man must cover with travelling sheep a six mile stage a day	A
But this is the law which the drovers make right easily understood	B
They travel their stage where the grass is bad but they camp where the grass is good	B
They camp and they ravage the squatter's grass till never a blade remains	C
Then they drift away as the white clouds drift on the edge of the saltbush plains	C
From camp to camp and from run to run they battle it hand to hand	D
For a blade of grass and the right to pass on the track of the Overland	D
For this is the law of the Great Stock Routes 'tis written in white and black	E
The man that goes with a travelling mob must keep to a half mile track	E
And the drovers keep to a half mile track on the runs where the grass is dead	F
But they spread their sheep on a well grassed run till they go with a two mile spread	F
So the squatters hurry the drovers on from dawn till the fall of night	G
And the squatters' dogs and the drovers' dogs get mixed in a deadly fight	G
Yet the squatters' men thought they haunt the mob are willing the peace to keep	H
For the drovers learn how to use their hands when they go with the travelling sheep	H
But this is the tale of a Jackaroo that came from a foreign strand	D
And the fight that he fought with Saltbush Bill the King of the Overland	D
Now Saltbush Bill was a drover tough as ever the country knew	I
He had fought his way on the Great Stock Routes from the sea to the big Barcoo	E
He could tell when he came to a friendly run that gave him a chance to spread	F
And he knew where the hungry owners were that hurried his sheep ahead	F
He was drifting down in the Eighty drought with a mob that could scarcely creep	H
When the kangaroos by the thousand starve it is rough on the travelling sheep	H
And he camped one night at the crossing place on the edge of the Wilga run	J
We must manage a feed for them here he said or half of the mob are done	J
So he spread them out when they left the camp wherever they liked to go	E
Till he grew aware of a Jackaroo with a station hand in tow	E
They set to work on the straggling sheep and with many a stockwhip crack	E
The forced them in where the grass was dead in the space of the half mile track	E
And William prayed that the hand of Fate might suddenly strike him blue	I
But he'd get some grass for his starving sheep in the teeth of that Jackaroo	K
So he turned and cursed the Jackaroo he cursed him alive or dead	F
From the soles of his great unwieldly feet to the crown of his ugly head	F
With an extra curse on the moke he rode and the cur at his heels that ran	L
Till the Jackaroo from his horse got down and went for the drover man	L
With the station hand for his picker up though the sheep ran loose the while	M
They battled it out on the well grassed plain in the regular prize ring style	M
	-
Now the new chum fought for his honour's sake and the pride of the English race	N
But the drover fought for his daily bread with a smile on his bearded face	N
So he shifted ground and he sparred for wind and he made it a lengthy mill	O
And from time to time as his scouts came in they whispered to Saltbush Bill	O
We have spread the sheep with a two mile spread and the grass it is something grand	D
You must stick to him Bill for another round for the pride of the Overland	D
The new chum made it a rushing fight though never a blow got home	P
Till the sun rode high in the cloudless sky and glared on the brick red loam	P
Till the sheep drew in to the shelter trees and settled them down to rest	Q
Then the drover said he would fight no more and gave his opponent best	Q
	-
So the new chum rode to the homestead straight and told them a story grand	D
Of the desperate fight that he fought that day with the King of the Overland	D
And the tale went home to the Public Schools of the pluck of the English swell	R
How the drover fought for his very life but blood in the end must tell	R
But the travelling sheep and the Wilga sheep were boxed on the Old Man Plain	S
'Twas a full week's work ere they drafted out and hunted them off again	T
A week's good grass in their wretched hides with a curse and a stockwhip crack	E
They hunted them off on the road once more to starve on the half mile track	E
And Saltbush Bill on the Overland will many a time recite	G
How the best day's work that he ever did was the day that he lost the fight	G

Banjo Paterson

Saltbush Bill Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

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